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Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

September 10, 2012 by 9 Comments

Soup and sweater weather…

There simply isn’t any weather I like better than those first days of fall -REAL FALL- where the skies are gunmetal grey and leaves are just starting to turn. It’s a mighty wind, and it’s brisk, and it wants to blow right through you. It makes you understand why those leaves finally give up and flutter around. We, thankfully, have sweaters and comfy socks.

And soup.

First, you may have been around here long enough to know I’m a huge fan of movies. My most favourite movies are usually absurd comedies. Squarely in that category falls the movie  ‘Best In Show’ by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. It’s a mockumentary where a bizarre group of characters competes to win a national dog show. The entire movie is weird, wonderful and hysterical from start to finish, but there is one exchange that has always stuck with my husband and I.

Jennifer Coolidge’s gold-digging, much younger trophy wife character, Sherri Ann Cabot, is talking about how very in love she is with her MUCH older, senile, immobile, uncommunicative, wealthy husband.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9jxSOxtYHs[/youtube]

“We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about.”

In short, since seeing that movie, my husband and I quote that one passage every. single. time. we have soup. Given that we also love soup, that quote gets pretty solid play in our house. And I’ll tell you this, unlike Leslie Ward Cabot, it hasn’t gotten old yet.

Let’s make like Sherri Ann and Leslie and talk about soup for a moment, shall we?

This chowder is not for the low-fat crowd. Not only does it use bacon -and a lot of it!-, not only does it have butter, not only does it have cream cheese, but it has all three in abundance. Glory hallelujah! Don’t spend your days waiting for Guffman, it’s time to bust out the comfort food.

While you can certainly make this chowder with a store-bought chicken or vegetable stock, it really sings up a storm when made with the simplest stock you can ever make; Corn Stock. If you’ve been with me long enough to know I’m a movie nut, you’ll also know that I’m firmly in the waste not/want not camp as well. Corn Stock is what I like to call a three-fer.

  1. You prepare the corn the way you  normally would (I vastly prefer roasting it because it’s easier to do large amounts than boiling.) Cut the corn from the cob and freeze it or use it immediately.
  2. Boil the cobs for stock.
  3. Give the boiled cobs to the chickens who will get whatever is left that is edible and use it as energy to make eggs.

If that isn’t a frugal gal’s dream, I don’t know what is. Most importantly, though, the corn stock gives your chowder something that no other stock can. It gives it an essence of summer sweet corn that simply is not available in any other way mid-autumn or winter. If that doesn’t send a shiver of anticipation up your spine (unlike a spinal tap), then you’ve never lived in the snow belt.

Just imagine a bowl of rich chowder resplendent with roasted corn (that which you cut from the cob and froze, you frugal cook you!), cubes of potato with a hint of red skin still on, and hints of orange carrot in a fragrant broth that smells just like fresh sweet corn and is made thicker and velvety with the addition of cream cheese. Does that warm you up yet?

Don’t just talk about it: slurp that soup like Leslie!

 

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Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

Make as much of the Corn Stock as you can while corn is still in season. You'll be so glad to have the essence of summery corn available to you in the winter. Use in stews, risottos, and soups.

This luscious, hearty, rich chowder is resplendent with roasted corn (that which you cut from the cob and froze, you frugal cook you!), cubes of potato with a hint of red skin still on, and hints of orange carrot in a fragrant broth that smells just like fresh sweet corn and is made thicker and velvety with the addition of cream cheese.

Ingredients

    For the Corn Stock:
  • 2 dozen ears of corn, roasted and shucked (preferably) or shucked and boiled
  • 2 cooking onions
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 1 handful fresh or frozen parsley stems
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs fresh time or 2 teaspoons of dried thyme leaves
  • 2 gallons fresh cold water
    • For the Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder:
  • 1 pound of bacon (Omit the bacon and add another 4 tablespoons of butter for a vegetarian version.)
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 medium sized cooking onions, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon minced or pressed garlic
  • 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 8 cups corn stock (or chicken stock)
  • 6 medium sized red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small cubes
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 4 cups frozen or fresh roasted corn, cut from the cob
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sliced green onions and minced fresh parsley, if desired, for serving

Instructions

To Make the Corn Stock:

Stand an ear of corn up on its flat end on a cutting board. Using a gentle sawing motion with a very sharp knife, cut down the ears, removing the kernels from the cobs as you go. Transfer the corn kernels to a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet and stick in the freezer until solid. Transfer those corn kernels to zipper top freezer bags and store for use in soups or salads.

Put the cleaned cobs along with the remaining stock ingredients into a large stockpot or electric countertop roaster oven. Cover the pot and bring up to a boil. Drop the heat and let it cook at a low simmer for 1-4 hours. Use tongs to remove the boiled cobs from the stock. (I give those to my chickens after they've cooled.) Pour the remaining liquid through a fine mesh sieve over a pitcher or other deep pot. You can use the stock immediately,

~or you can pressure can it (leaving 1-inch of headspace) at 15 pounds of pressure for 75 minutes. The jars can be stored on the shelf for up to two years.

~or you can cool the stock and pour it into zipper top freezer bags in single use portions then freeze it for up to 6 months.

~or you can refrigerate it and use it within 2 weeks.

To Make the Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder:

Cut across the slices of bacon to make 1/2-inch strips. In a soup pot over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until it is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Set it aside -no snitching!- until the soup is almost done.

Drain all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease. You can eyeball it: you don't need to be precise. Add the butter to the bacon grease and place the pan over medium low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic in and stir, cooking for an additional minute.

Sprinkle the flour over the onion/garlic/butter mixture and whisk it in thoroughly. Raise the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutse, stirring often. It should be bubbly. Add the corn stock, whisking to combine, then the potatoes and carrots. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are super tender.

In a heat-proof bowl, lightly smash the softened cream cheese with a fork. Using a ladle, add a little of the hot corn stock to the cream cheese, working it in with a fork or a whisk until smooth. After you've added enough hot stock to it to create a thick but pourable liquid, add it back into the pan of soup, stirring to combine. Add the corn in and stir, cooking only until the corn is heated all the way through. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a handful of sliced green onions and chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Don't forget a big chunk of bread to sop up the irresistible broth!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/10/corn-stock-plus-roasted-corn-and-potato-chowder-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Component Foods, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Sweet and Spicy Asian Style Pickled Carrots | Make Ahead Mondays

April 16, 2012 by 20 Comments

I harbour no illusions about my family’s eating habits. I know some of them are weird. Take, for example, the fact that when my sons were turning 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2, respectively, we served onigiri at their collective birthday party. Not weird in Japan, admittedly, but we weren’t in Japan. We were in Western New York. And while most of the friends present were pretty psyched to try something new, a couple kids and parents looked at us askew while making sure there was a clear path between them and the door.  One poor woman involuntarily threw an onigiri back at the plate and it skittered across the table when she asked what the black stuff was around the rice ball and I responded, “Toasted seaweed!” enthusiastically.

Oh well. Can’t convince them all.

All of this is to say that since that moment, I’ve been a little more circumspect about what I serve where and to whom. I try to know my audience, so to speak. This works pretty well for the most part.

Then this past weekend, I posted the following query on the Foodie With Family facebook page:

“I have a question for you all. I’m positively addicted to these sweet and spicy pickled julienned carrots I make… I put them on slacker sushi bowls, on bahn mi, on other sandwiches, on salads, in homemade sushi. Are any of you out there interested in the recipe or is that too weirdo for you?”

I thought the question would be D.O.A. In fact, I kind of wondered why I even posted the question. Imagine my surprise when I saw that within ten minutes of posting the question, there were already four people who said they’d love the recipe. I think my jaw might’ve slackened a little bit. But that wasn’t where it ended. Within hours, twenty four people had assured me that they, too, wanted the recipe and twenty two other people had liked the status. At that point, my mouth was hanging open so far I looked a bit like a cod. We chat back and forth on facebook, but I can honestly say this was a pretty clear sign that I need to ask you guys more often what you’d like for me to post.

Here I’d been withholding one of my favourite staples from you all on the grounds that I was a dork and it was too strange/unique/niche/whatever for you guys when I could’ve just asked all along. Duh, right?

Lesson learned. I will now ask. But for the record, y’all are weirdos, too and I like you that way.

Let’s talk some practicality here… because who wants to go to the trouble of canning something unless you know you’re going to use it, right? Where can you put these gorgeous little orange strips? Use these anywhere you want a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of spice. Remember the candied jalapenos? These are in that category. Some ideas:

  • On bibimbap. This classic Korean dish gets a nice bit of oomph from the sweet and spicy pickled carrots.
  • On top of slacker sushi bowls. Rice piled in a bowl with sushi dressing poured over it, topped with these carrots, shrimp/tuna/salmon, cucumber cubes, cream cheese, green onions, wasabi, soy sauce, nori, sesame seeds, etc… Think of a Philadelphia sushi roll exploded in a bowl. Many deep thanks to Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake and her sister for the addition of cream cheese and a cool name to something we’d been making haphazardly for years. )
  • On sandwiches. Yes. Homemade bánh mì, simple turkey sandwiches, chopped up in egg/chicken/tuna salad, etc… They all taste incredible with these spicy, sweet, tender crisp carrot sticks tucked into them.
  • On salads. Toss a few of these and a fistful of chow mein noodles on a salad before drizzling a nice sesame vinaigrette over top. You’ll be blown away.
  • In summer rolls or spring rolls. These add a mega punch of flavour and texture to summer and spring rolls. Since you all told me you want an Asian style pickled carrot recipe, I’m going to go ahead and assume you like summer and spring rolls, too. See how I get?
  • By themselves. Every now and then I grab a jar of these out of the fridge and a pair of chopsticks and just nibble. Sometimes it’s exactly what I need.

Some Cooking Notes:

  • In the recipe, I tell you to julienne the carrots (in other words, cut into matchstick size/shaped strips.) If this is too much effort and/or you don’t own a mandoline slicer, you can always use a vegetable peeler to peel thin strips from the carrots. It won’t tuck quite so neatly onto slacker sushi bowls or look quite so polished as the mandoline rendered strips, but it’ll do and it’ll taste every bit as good.
  • Don’t be tempted to leave out the star anise. My husband hates (and I don’t use the word lightly) star anise, but loves what they do here. They give the carrots a certain je ne sais quoi. Just try ‘em.

One final bit of business. A reader asked where she can find all of the Make Ahead Monday recipes. If you are looking for an easy way to keep track of recipes in any category here on Foodie With Family, try the “Recipe” tab under the logo and header. I’ve categorized all of the recipes and Make Ahead Mondays has its very own section. Tada! …Or you could just click THIS. Ask and you shall receive!

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Sweet and Spicy Asian Style Pickled Carrots | Make Ahead Mondays

Sweet and Spicy Asian Style Pickled Carrots | Make Ahead Mondays

These simple-to-make pickled carrot strips are sweet, spicy, tangy and flavourfully crisp-tender. Put them on sandwiches, bibimbap, sushi rice bowls, relish trays, tuck into salads and springrolls or just snack on them. Once you try them, you'll want to keep lots on hand!

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of peeled carrots, julienned (or use a vegetable peeler to peel long thin strips of carrots.)
  • 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 3/4 cup raw or granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Clean and sterilize 3 pint jars, lids and rings (For instructions on how to do this, see this link )

In a stainless steel -or other non-reactive pot- combine the vinegars, water, star anise, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes,ginger root, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring just until the sugar is dissolved. Use a slotted spoon to remove the star anise from the boiling brine and divide them evenly between the jars.

Add the carrot sticks to the boiling brine. Bring the liquid back to a boil, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Immediately use tongs or a slotted spoon to divide the carrot sticks between the jars, packing if necessary to fit them all in. Use a ladle to pour the hot brine over the carrot sticks, being sure to cover the carrot sticks with brine. Insert a sterile chopstick or knife into the jars to release air bubbles and add more brine if necessary to keep the carrots covered.

Moisten a paper towel with vinegar and wipe the rims of the jars. Position a lid on top of each jar and screw on the rings to finger tip tightness. If you over-tighten, the jars will not process properly.

Place the jars on a rack in a canner, add hot tap water to cover the jars by at least an inch and cover the pot. Bring to a full rolling boil and process for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, but leave the cover in place and let the jars rest for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes have passed, carefully transfer the jars to a cooling rack or towel lined counter to cool, undisturbed for 24 hours.

Check the seals after 24 hours have passed. If it is a good seal, the center of the jar lid will be slightly sunken in and will not "poing" back up when pressed lightly with the finger. If the lid is domed, or it pops back up when pressed, store in the refrigerator.

Wipe down the jars with good seals, remove the rings, and label before storing in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/04/16/sweet-and-spicy-asian-style-pickled-carrots-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Component Foods, Condiments, Healthy Foods, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Home “Sun”dried Tomatoes with Basil and Garlic

September 14, 2010 by 18 Comments

I signed up for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog contest this weekend.  It’s a huge competition with multiple challenges, great publicity and a big old cash prize at stake. After each challenge, hundreds of participants will be cut.  I have to clue you in on something. I am a secretly competitive person.  And a perfectionist.  What this boils down to is that I usually don’t compete unless I know I can win.  Clever and super mature tactic, right?  That is what makes this such a huge departure for me.  There is a massive amount of food blogging talent involved in the competition and I have no idea where I stand in this crowd.  This is scarier than playing Boggle with my Grandma. But for once, it doesn’t matter.  Don’t get me wrong.  The competitiveness?  It’s there.  It’s on like Donkey Kong.  I care big time.  More importantly though, I’m on a mission to become a better blogger for all of my readers because you folks make blogging so much fun.  That’s why I’m diving in head first.

This post is my first entry in the competition.  The Challenge, “Ready, Set, Blog!” is for me to distill the essence of who I am as a food blogger in one post. I have discovered I have a marked tendency to get sappy when I have to talk about what motivates me. But it’s food AND family!  How could I not?

On September 20th, Foodbuzz will open the competition up to popular votes from the public-at-large. I’ll let you all know when the vote opens up just in case you want to throw your support behind little ol’ me.  Whew. Thanks for coming along on the ride.



“Love is the only cure for irritability, for irritability is only another manifestation of self-centeredness.  And love that takes a man outside himself and centers the focus of his attention on the well-being of others is its only cure.”

-Granville Walker

A major proverbial switch flipped in my brain the first time I read that.  The mega-life changing kind of switch that makes you look at just about everything differently. We’re talking epiphany, people.

I realized food and family are both utterly dependent on love to thrive. And I’m not talking about all hearts and flowers and goo-goo eyes all the time. I mean the real love; the love described by Granville Walker. The love with arms that hugs the scared four-year-old climbing into bed in the wee hours of the morning.  The love with legs that keeps you walking alongside and balancing a child’s bicycle even though your back (and arms and neck) are all aching.  The love with spine that reminds you that when you’re saying “absolutely not” to them banging that yellow jacket nest with wooden swords that you really do want the best for them. The love with hands that crafts the food that goes beyond mere sustenance to keep them all going….

I told you it was an epiphany.

Since you’re here, I’ll assume that you don’t view food as a simple necessity.  You -like me- think of food preparation far beyond the basic calories in vs. calories out.  If it was as basic as that, with no emotion or art attached, we’d all be walking around like Charlton Heston in ‘Soylent Green’ before his epiphany. Food is a creative outlet, sensuous pleasure, science experiment, math formula, historic treatise and cultural study all rolled into one.  And like it or not, the food we make speaks volumes about who we are and how we view life and love.

In food, much as in life, the best things come with a good head-start and a healthy dose of patience and selflessness. Sundried tomatoes have long been a staple on most food-lovers’ shelves.  They command a premium price at even the lowest quality and are sometimes pumped and plumped with odd additives and preservatives that are both unnecessary and undesirable.  We can easily make them at home using the simplest and healthiest ingredients possible without sacrificing any of the flavor and convenience of the store-bought counterpart. And it doesn’t hurt anything at all that you can make a far superior product for a much lower price tag.

The key, as with all food preservation, is to start with the best produce you can buy or grow.  There’s not much to be done to the tomatoes before drying, but -oh!- the possibilities when they’re done.  The favorite mode of consumption around these parts is to shake a handful from the jar, insert directly into the mouth and chew.  If that’s a little too country-cousin for you, we have more options; serve a bowl full -as is- along with thin slices of good cheese as finger food at a party, soak in warm water for 30 minutes before draining (save that liquid for adding to soups or stews!) and tucking into pizzas or sandwiches or pasta, or stir into polenta or risotto for bursts of intense tomato flavor.  In short, use these anywhere you would use a store-bought sundried tomato.

Living where I do, using the sun to dry tomatoes is a sketchy proposition at best.  We just don’t have enough hot daylight hours to accomplish the task before mold sets in to ruin our efforts.  That’s where  creativity comes in to save the day.  While a dehydrator is certainly more convenient, don’t let the lack of one stop you.  Your household oven can do the job admirably.

This is so worth your time, effort and love.  Oh, it is so worth it.

For a photo-free, printer-friendly version of this recipe, click here!

Home “Sun”dried Tomatoes with Basil and Garlic

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups cherry tomatoes of any variety.  Using a blend of types will give you beautiful variations in color and shape.
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, preferably Genovese, washed and very thinly sliced (otherwise known as chiffonaded basil.)
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt or sea salt

Wash your cherry tomatoes, examining them for bad fruit or soft spots.  Trim away any soft spots and remove any stems.  Halve all of your cherry tomatoes.  If you have any particularly large cherry tomatoes, quarter them so they will be the same size as the others.  The more uniform your pieces, the more evenly they will dry.  Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, on a cutting board and sprinkle with the Kosher salt, chiffonaded basil and minced garlic.  Press the garlic and basil gently into the tomato halves.

…And here you need to make a decision.  If you have a dehydrator, use the first set of instructions.  If you do not, use the second set of instructions to dry your tomatoes.

Dehydrator Instructions

Transfer the tomatoes, cut side down, onto your dehydrator trays.  Do not overcrowd or they may not dry well.  Some garlic and basil will fall from the tomatoes; this is expected.  When all of your tomatoes have been arranged, scrape the basil and garlic that remains on the cutting board evenly over the dehydrator trays.  Dehydrate for 6-12 hours (at 135°F if your dehydrator has an adjustable thermostat) or until they are very shriveled.  They should be rather leathery and remain slightly pliable when warm but they should not be at all moist when you use a fingernail to dig into the centers.  When they reach this stage, allow to cool before transferring to an airtight container for storage.  stored in a cool, dry place in an airtight container, these should be good for up to one year.  Stored wrapped in foil and then in a resealable plastic bag, they will remain delicious for up to 18 months.

Oven Dehydrating Instructions

Preheat your oven to 130-140°F.  On some ovens, this will be the “keep warm” setting.  If your oven does not go this low, you will need to use your very lowest setting, prop the oven door open by about 4 inches,  set a small fan near the opening to keep air circulating, and reduce the cooking time (watching them carefully for scorching) for the most even results.

Line a baking sheet (or two, depending on the size) with foil.  Arrange the prepared tomatoes cut side down on the foil-lined sheets. Scrape the basil and garlic that remains on the cutting board evenly over the tomatoes.  Dehydrate for 6-12 hours or until they are very shriveled.  They should be rather leathery and remain slightly pliable when warm but they should not be at all moist when you use a fingernail to dig into the centers.  When they reach this stage, allow to cool before transferring to an airtight container for storage.  stored in a cool, dry place in an airtight container, these should be good for up to one year.  Stored wrapped in foil and then in a resealable plastic bag, they will remain delicious for up to 18 months.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Component Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Candied Jalapenos

May 23, 2010 by 147 Comments

 

This last week, my baby brother Luke told me admiringly that I had finally done it.

“To which it do you refer?” I inquired.

“IT!” said Luke.

Luke was referring to this.

This sandwich blew my mind. It was the perfect sandwich. I do not use the phrase ‘perfect sandwich’ lightly. It is a very serious appellation to give a sandwich*. This one earned it.

*Could I possibly use the word ‘sandwich’ any more? There just doesn’t seem to be any way around it. And so I’d like every single English and composition teacher reading this to take a muscle relaxant right now to help them get through the rest of this post without cringing themselves into spasms.

Let me tell you what makes this bad boy so very bad*. The sandwich is built of naan brushed with ghee, tandoori style grilled chicken, cucumber and yogurt salsa, crunchy pickled onion rings and candied jalapenos. Un-bloody-believably delicious. The Evil Genius declared it to be ‘A Second-to-Naanwich’.

*Bad in a good way. As in phat. Not fat. It’s totally fly. I should probably stop now. Fo shizzle.

Every single component of this sandwich was made from scratch. Okay, so I didn’t grow the lettuce greens, spices or the chicken, but shy of that, all homemade. And over the next few posts, I will give you the recipes to make each component needed to reproduce this amazing sandwich in your own kitchen.

Even though this sandwich alone is worth the work of making each of these building blocks, you’re not just canning, yogurt, bread, and grilling for one purpose. Each of the ingredients can be used for multiple recipes. This is a springboard recipe. Once you’ve mastered each component, the world is your oyster. Are you ready for the first part? Here we go!

We’re starting with Candied Jalapenos for a very good reason. After being made, they need to sit for at least two weeks before you crack open the jar to start eating them. And by need, I mean it’s strictly optional, but you’ll be glad that you did. The flavors need time to meld and marry.

Candied Jalapenos. Ah. There’s a story here. A couple months ago, my friend Katie casually mentioned eating a sandwich made with candied jalapenos. She was singing the praises of what she described as an addictive jar of goodies. Then she said the magic words, “I wish I could figure out how to make these at home.” By this point, you know me enough to know what affect that statement has on me, right?  I quizzed her on the texture, flavor, and appearance of the jalapeno rings. I begged for photographs. I had her send me a picture of the ingredient list on the label. I asked her to describe the flavor to the very best of her food blogging abilities. She was game. She provided all the information and even sent a link to a recipe that she thought looked like it would come close to the benchmark for her.

After carefully examining close to thirty recipes on candied jalapenos (who KNEW there were so many people candying jalapenos?) I called my local Cooperative Extension office to pick the brain of their home food preservation specialists. Since jalapenos are a low-acid food, some precautions need to be taken when canning them. You have two choices for safely canning peppers of any kind; you can pressure can them or you can acidify (i.e. add vinegar, lemon juice, etc…) the liquid in which you pack the peck of pickled peppers.

I opted for acidifying the pepper liquid because I wanted to maintain some of the texture of the peppers through the process.  Pressure canning these would turn them to flavorful mush.  The result was gobsmackingly, head-spinningly, brain-addlingly delicious.  Sweet, spicy and savory, candied jalapeno rings are way too easy to eat on just about everything.  I’ve stashed them in sandwiches, chopped them up on baked beans, tucked them into tacos, used the syrup to brush meat on the grill, perched a couple rings on top of a cream cheese laden cracker and all sorts of other evil things.

For such a simple thing to can, these pack tons of flavor.  You’re going to want to make as many of these as you possibly can simultaneously, because once that first jar is cracked open you’re not going to be able to stop eating them.  And I mean it.

Hey!  Don’t forget to come back over the next few days to get the other components to my Second-to-Naanwich.  You will love me.  That’s a promise.

Candied Jalapenos

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Yield: About 9 half-pint jars of Candied Jalapenos plus additional jalapeno syrup.

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds fresh, firm, jalapeno peppers, washed
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 6 cups white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
  • 3 teaspoons granulated garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers.  The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off of the stem-end along with the stem.  Discard the stems.

Slice the peppers into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds.  Set aside.

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar.

Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil.  Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices to within 1/4-inch of the rim.  Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air.  Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary.  Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.

*If you have leftover syrup, and it is likely that you will, you may can it in half-pint or pint jars, too.  It’s wonderful brushed on meat on the grill or added to potato salad or, or, or…  In short, don’t toss it out!

Place jars in a canner, cover with water by 2-inches.  Bring the water to a full rolling boil.  When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints.  When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack.  Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours.  When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth then label.

Allow to mellow for at least two weeks, but preferably a month before eating. Or don’t.  I won’t tell!

 

 

 

4.9 from 19 reviews

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Candied Jalapenos
Author: 
Recipe type: Canning, Condiment, Ingredient
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 32
 

There aren’t words that exist to describe how addictive these little savoury, sweet, spicy, crunchy, garlicky pickled jalapeno rounds are. Put them on sandwiches, tacos, rice or bake them into cornbread. You’ll need more and more!
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds fresh, firm, jalapeno peppers, washed
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 6 cups white granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon celery seed
  • 3 teaspoons granulated garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Instructions
  1. Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers. The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off of the stem-end along with the stem. Discard the stems.
  2. Slice the peppers into uniform ⅛-1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.
  3. In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within ¼ inch of the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.
  4. Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.
  5. *If you have leftover syrup, and it is likely that you will, you may can it in half-pint or pint jars, too. It’s wonderful brushed on meat on the grill or added to potato salad or, or, or… In short, don’t toss it out!
  6. Place jars in a canner, cover with water by 2-inches. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth then label.
  7. Allow to mellow for at least two weeks, but preferably a month before eating. Or don’t. I won’t tell!

Notes
I know this sounds crazy, but double this recipe. People will beg you for jars of this and get surly if you say no. Just. Trust. Me.

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Camping Food, Canning, Component Foods, Food Preservation, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Canned Barbecue Beans (El Pollo Loco BBQ Black Beans clone)

May 18, 2010 by 22 Comments

If I live to be a thousand years old I will never exhaust the possibilities offered by beans.  And what is there not to like about beans? They are- all at once- so inexpensive, so nutritious, so easy to store, so delicious, so versatile.

If you’ve been with me here at Foodie With Family for a while you’re pretty familiar with my adoration of beans.  They’re a quick, filling, el-cheapo way to feed a growing family.

“Quick?  Beans? Well, surely you aren’t making them from the dried state,” sayeth the doubting crowd.  Ah, but yes.  Yes, I am.  And here is where this post morphs from singing the praises of beans to evangelizing about canning.  Pressure canning, specifically.  And this requires a diversion of some length from beans…

Even if you were raised in a family who canned a great deal of food (as I was) chances are you heard something like this regarding pressure canning, “Pressure canners are DANGEROUS!  My Aunt Bertha had one explode on her once.  She leapt in front of it to protect the baby who was walking through the kitchen. They had to pull shrapnel from her neck.  Just missed the jugular.”  (The preceding cautionary tale was an amalgam of the pressure-canning horror stories from my own family members and friends.)  The truth is that pressure canners were dangerous.

The operative word here is ‘were’.  The reason so many of us have heirloom pressure canner tales of gore from ages of yore is because there were so many of them that actually exploded. But there is a whole new generation of pressure canners on the market now.  They have ratcheting, locking lids with metal-to-metal seals instead of  the inferior rubber gasket seals and their disturbing likelihood to warp, crack or otherwise deteriorate.

The Evil Genius has inspected Carol (Yes, my pressure canner has a name.  Don’t you name your appliances?) and pronounced her to be the domestic equivalent of a small-scale industrial sterilizer.  (And the man ought to know, he stares at/operates/programs/troubleshoots the real thing all day long every day. If the fellow who sits in front of the blast window on an industrial sterilizer waiting for little glass vials to explode says it’s safe, I think you can take his word for it.  And since I’m incapable of remaining on topic for more than three sentences, let me just ask one thing.  Does anyone else find it amusing that a man who is clearly NOT sterile [I remind you we had five sons in nine years] specializes in sterilizers?)

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

“Get back on topic already!”

I can take a hint…

Yes, well.  Here’s where I was going with this.  Pressure canning is very safe now.  Provided you use a new model pressure canner and follow the safety instructions.  And don’t let Aunt Bertha near it.  Just saying.

As for which pressure canner to use, I prefer this beauty:

 

This is the second to the largest model made by the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry.  Yes, it’s a little more expensive than its smaller siblings or cheap knock-offs made by other companies, but it can hold and process fourteen quarts simultaneously.  Come on!  That’s seriously amazing.  That means that it twice as efficient as models that hold seven quarts.  And it can double as a big old boiling water canner.  There’s no boiling water canner on earth that can do double duty like Carol.

I have major warm fuzzies for this company.  When I broke my gauge (read: my fault completely.  I didn’t read the directions.) they replaced it –free of charge- even after I confessed what happened to it.  They sent it via Priority Mail.  Did I mention they sent it for free?  As in gratis?  I declared my love for them over the phone.  I think they’re used to it. But we were talking about beans, weren’t we?

Ah yes, these beans.

As if Facebook wasn’t a giant enough time hoover for me, I recently discovered the existence of the fabulous and aptly named ‘Canning’ group.  In this group was a picture of a batch of barbecue beans one member had made. The original recipe described them as being a clone of El Pollo Loco’s  BBQ Black Beans.  Having never been to an El  Pollo Loco, I had no idea what that meant.  One look at the recipe, though, and I knew I had to try it.  The method was so simple.  And the payoff was huge.

The hardest part of the whole project was waiting two weeks after processing to try them. Their hermetically sealed jars beckoned from their shelf in the basement, “Eat me!”

And boy, oh boy, these beans are good.  There is no hint at all of the paltry ten minutes of hands-on time (well, alright, twenty minutes if you count wiping and labeling the jars.) that went into creating this masterpiece. Smoky, spicy, saucy- they taste like beans that have baked for hours upon hours in the oven rather than beans poured from a jar that sat in the basement.  These beans alone are reason enough to justify the price of a new pressure canner even if they’re the only thing you ever make in it. How can that possibly be?

Let me paint you a little mental picture.  Let’s say, hypothetically, that you have five sons.  (Could happen, you know…) And let’s say that two of them are in a play; rehearsal is on Tuesday and the show is on Thursday, a column due Wednesday, paperwork to fill out at the bank on Thursday morning, a house full of company coming for the weekend on Friday and they’re planning on eating with you.  Right.  So, where in there are you going to find time to make a delicious and filling dinner for your company?  Try this one on for size.  Throw on a pot of rice.  Open and reheat a couple jars of Canned Barbecue Beans.  Put a couple links of your favorite sausage on the grill (Kielbasa, smoked sausage, link-chorizo, what-have-you…) and toss together a salad. Fluff the rice, top with the beans and sausage and serve with a salad and something icy cold to drink.

But hang on. It’s cheap, people!  It’s dirt cheap!  You can’t get food much cheaper than this, and you certainly can’t buy food of this quality for anywhere near this little in any store. And more banging of the drum… it’s so very good for you.  Fiber, vitamins, minerals, no funky preservatives or additives.  It’s great food the way food was intended to be.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, with no photos and sidebars, click here!

Canned Barbecue Beans

adapted from Creative Canning and Mary Kay Craig

  • 1 pound (or slightly more) black beans or a mix of pinto and black beans, rinsed, picked over and soaked 8 hours or overnight
  • 2 onions, peeled and small
  • 5 small cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 1/2 cups barbecue sauce (I used my favorite homemade Kansas City style sauce, but bottled sauce will do the job in a pinch.)
  • 2-3 drops liquid smoke per pint jar
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle powder per pint jar, to taste, or 1/2 of a fresh jalapeno, minced, per pint jar.

After the beans have soaked overnight, drain and rinse them.  What you see below is mixture of black beans and pinto beans that is approximately equal by weight.

Divide the beans between five clean pint jars. The beans should fill the jars about halfway.  Divide the onions and minced garlic evenly between the jars.

Add the chipotle powder (or minced jalapenos) and liquid smoke to each jar.

Add 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce to each jar. Notice how the pinto beans have been stained by the black beans?  That’s just inevitable.  Don’t let it worry you.

Then add clean, fresh water to the jars to within an inch of the top rim.  Insert a chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times per jar to release any trapped air bubbles.

Adjust the liquid if needed to maintain one-inch of clearance  from the upper rim.  Wipe the rims, add new two-piece lids and process, according to your canner’s manufacturer’s recommendations, at 15 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes.

How is that possible that you don’t have to cook the beans first? Pressure canning is more than just efficient, it’s convenient.  As you’re processing the jars, you’re also cooking the beans inside the jars.  It’s like doing a little bit of kitchen magic.

And now comes the tricky part.   You have to wait at least two weeks for the beans to soak up the liquid in the jar.  You could even wait four weeks for the ultimate experience, if you can stand it.  You’ll be making another batch as soon as you open up that first jar, though.  I guarantee you that!

P.S.  There was a really neat phenomenon that happened with these jars.  Because you form a vacuum inside the jars (by design) when pressure canning, the liquid inside the jars can continue to boil long after they’re removed from the canner.  One jar’s contents boiled for thirty-five minutes after it was sitting on the cooling rack!  The Evil Genius assures me that this is perfectly normal and safe.

Filed Under: Beans, Camping Food, Canning, Component Foods, Food Preservation, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , ,

Pickled Green Cherry Tomatoes

September 15, 2008 by 14 Comments

Beautiful little green ‘yellow pear’ cherry tomatoes waiting to be pickled…

Because there really is no such thing as a garlic clove that is too big.

 

When I got home from our vacation I didn’t toddle over to our garden immediately.  I started doing laundry furiously.  I don’t mean to say that I was doing it quickly.  I mean to say that I was furious that I had to do more laundry.  I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.  I tried to clear out the wrappers and crumbs and sand that had invaded the van.  I scratched the dogs behind their ears, made a few meals, sat and finished “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, listened to my kids’ talk about how their second-cousin informed them there was a new generation of Bionicles being released just in time for Christmas, checked my email and did other various and sundry things before remembering that I had some plants that probably needed my attention.  I pulled on my barn boots and ambled out to the garden.

 

HOLY WUH!  In one week it seemed the entire garden had been taken over by monster heirloom cherry tomato plants.  I did some quick mental calculations and realized that there was no possible way we could manage to eat all the cherry tomatoes that were coming on.  A little more silent math and it was also plain that even freezing the excess ripe fruit for use in soups and stews would leave us with more tomatoes than my non-wasteful heart could bear to ignore.  What to do with all those gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes?  Pickling to the rescue!

 

A quick scan of the pantry revealed that I had everything else necessary for pickling some green cherry tomatoes; white wine vinegar, garlic, dill seed and weed, bay leaves and non-iodized salt.  Score!

 

Since dill pickled cherry tomatoes are one of the easiest things to pickle, I managed to pack my jars, make my brine and turn out dinner at the same time.  All you have to do in order to prep for this is to carefully wash and stem each cherry tomato, boil your brine, peel one clove of garlic for each pint of tomatoes, and sterilize your jars and rings.  With a dishwasher in the house, the sterilizing of the jars is the easiest part of the whole proposition.

 

With that gorgeous color, crispy and juicy texture and vibrant flavor dill pickled green tomatoes are a little burst of summer when added to a mid-winter salad.  But dill pickled green cherry tomatoes are even better.  They’re everything that is good about a pickled green tomato in a super cute bite-sized package.  In addition to being delicious on salads, they stand alone as appetizers that manage to be simultaneously elegant, flavorful, simple and adorable.

 

If you’re overrun with cherry tomatoes that you don’t want to kill off with that looming first hard frost, give these a try.  I think you’ll thank me!

 

 

White Wine Vinegar Pickled Heirloom Green Cherry Tomatoes

 

Feel free to play with the flavors in this recipe.  You could substitute tarragon for the dill and have a very French pickle.  You could toss in some dried or fresh habaneros with the dill and have Green Cherry Bombs.  Get creative!  As usual, I’m giving you this recipe in a per-jar scalable format.  Make as many or as few jars as you wish.  I recommend making at least as much brine as the recipe gives below and possibly more.  Extra brine keeps well in the fridge.  It’s very frustrating to have to prepare and boil another batch of brine for the sake of 1/4 cup shortage.  You can always make more later or use the extra brine to brine meats or in salad dressings.

 

Before starting your brine, have your jars and lids prepared.  For an easy explanation on how to sterilize and prepare your jars, lids and rings, click here.

 

Ingredients

 

For the Brine:

  • 3 1/2 cups white wine vinegar
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 1/4 cup pickling salt (Any non-iodized salt will work well here.  If your salt is superfine, reduce amount by 1 Tablespoon.)

 

For each pint jar:

  • 1 large clove garlic, peeled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill seed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed
  • Small, firm green cherry tomatoes, carefully washed and stemmed (You can use small, firm green standard-sized tomatoes that are halved or quartered if you cannot lay your hands on the cherry tomatoes.)

 

In a medium sized, non-reactive saucepan combine all brine ingredients over high heat.  While waiting for brine to boil, fill your jars

 

In each jar, place a garlic clove, bay leaf, dill seed and dill weed.  Pack the jar tightly to within 1/2″ of the top with the green cherry tomatoes.  Pour boiling brine over the tops of the tomatoes to within 1/2″ of the rim of the jar.  Wipe rims, position lid over the top and screw rings on just until they hold but do not wrench them on too tightly.  (For more information on why this important click here!)

 

Place jars in the canner and fill with water to cover jars by at least an inch.  Cover canner and place pan over high heat.  Allow water to come to a rolling boil, leave lid on and boil hard for 15 minutes.  When the 15 minutes are up, shut off heat, remove lid and allow the jars to sit in the hot water for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove jars to a cooling rack and allow to cool, undisturbed overnight.

 

When jars and their contents are completely cooled, wipe down with a clean, damp cloth, remove rings and store in a cool, dry place for up to 3 years.  The pickled cherry tomatoes will be ready to eat in 6 weeks.   Bon Appetit!

Filed Under: Canning, Food Preservation, Happy Healthy and Wise, Instructional, Rebecca Tagged With: , ,